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Sports

Johnson Ends Track Career as Two-Time All-American

South Brunswick standout heading to Syracuse

One of the oldest jokes in sports is to wish someone a "happy birthday" after they pulled off a special performance.

Well, as Rachel Johnson points out, the South Brunswick High School shuttle hurdles team really did have a birthday girl.

The SBHS shuttle hurdles team placed sixth in the country while competing at the New Balance Outdoor Nationals in North Carolina on June 18. Johnson, Janae Baker, Laura Calderone and Jen O'Laughlin finished with a time of 1:03.76.

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"It was Laura's birthday on Sunday and we all went out for a birthday breakfast," Johnson noted. "It was fun. It was a weekend I'll never forget."

Calderone will remember it because of the unique manner in which she spent her birthday with a lot of friends. Johnson and the other girls will remember it because, you know, they are now All-Americans. That's something that goes to the top six finishers at the Nationals.

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Johnson actually joins Baker as a two-time National champion. Johnson, Baker, Alicia Osley and Cayla Del Piano placed sixth in the sprint medley on Friday in a time of 4:05.04.

These relays were a little different than most races as each team just ran once and the overall standings were figured out after everyone competed.

"You just give it your all," Johnson said. "You just go your hardest. You don't think about the person in the other lane. It's a sprint race. It's not like I'm Cayla (who did the 800 in the sprint medley) and I have to pace myself. I just went as hard as I could and before I knew it the races were over."

South Brunswick Coach Stefan Moorhead never even considered that he would get anything but Johnson's best.

"Rachel has been a big part of our success for (her) entire four-year career," Moorhead said. "Rachel has been one of our top short sprinters all four years, and really developed into a great hurdler as well during her junior and senior seasons. She worked very hard and was also a mentor to some of our younger hurdlers."

That entire shuttle hurdles team has graduated. Del Piano and Osley will return to offer a very good core on the sprint medley team.

"They'll definitely be able to hold it down in the 400 and 800," Johnson said.

Fortunately, all four of the graduating seniors -- along with the two returnees -- will get to take some memories and some awards with them.

"After you race, you stand in the center of the field and watch the big screens for the results," Johnson said. "We watched as our name appeared and then we went to the podium. We got a t-shirt, medal and a crown. The crown is kind of like a Burger King crown (laughs), but it says All-American on it."

The winners also got flowers and a ring, but Johnson is thrilled with her prizes.

She got to drive to North Carolina with a bunch of friends. She got to celebrate a friend's birthday. She got to become a two-time All-American.

When Johnson runs again competitively, it will be for Syracuse University, where she will study nutrition and physical therapy. In the past, she has been on four Greater Middlesex Conference championships teams and a Central Jersey championship squad as well. She ran at The Meet of Champions. The weekend of June 17-19, however, is going to rank right up on top.

"It's a great feeling to accomplish something like this with people you have been on the same team with for three or four years," Johnson said. "I wouldn't trade that moment for anything. It's something I will always treasure. This is a weekend I will never forget."

Happy birthday, Laura Calderone. Congratulations Rachel Johnson, Cayla Del Piano, Jen O'Laughlin, Janae Baker and Alicia Osley.

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